


Safe Haven

by Rakath



Category: Degrassi
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-07-16 06:55:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16080830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rakath/pseuds/Rakath
Summary: Drew and Audra taking in a stray.I got a little clever with the formatting for the middle. I hope it tracks and makes sense.





	Safe Haven

Drew nursed his tea at the counter in the kitchen. Waiting. Today had been a trial, and it wasn’t quite done yet. Maybe going to bed was the right plan, leave a note, hide and wait for the fallout in the morning? No, no he couldn’t do that. It’d fall on her, and she didn’t need that.

So he waited.

His mother, Audra Torres, opened the front door as normal, and came into the kitchen. Her eyes fell on Drew and the question was already on her face before she asked it.

So Drew didn’t let her, “Quietly look downstairs, and I’ll explain everything, just- be quiet, and don’t be mad?” Maybe that was guilt in his voice, he had every right to feel that way. This wasn’t on him, except the parts that were, but he hoped the concern shown through that.

Audra went to the basement room, quiet, and came upstairs. Her tone harsh, but voice low as she started, “Drew Torres what is that girl doing here?”

“I didn’t really think-”

“No, you didn’t, you never do. Drew.”

“I didn’t think of anywhere else to take her. Not- this late, Becky can’t help after what happened and Imogen doesn’t really know her well enough.” Drew’s eyes didn’t leave the counter as he spoke.

“She can go home, I’m calling her mother.”

Drew was up and had his hand planting the home phone on the cradle in a moment, “Why do you think she’s here?”

Audra let a sigh out, “Maybe you should explain.”

Drew went over and refilled his tea cup, he then pulled a second cup, filled it, and handed it to his mother. “So it started a few weeks ago…”

***

After her… assault, a bunch of us started a buddy system where one of us would hang out with her between classes, after school. I few of Reverend Baker’s parishioners, and a few Ice Hounds, had it in for her but they tended to leave her alone if she had anyone there to stand up for her.

Well, a few weeks ago when I was up to spend lunch with her I found her sneaking out of a supply closet with a girl I didn’t know. And they definitely had that- well, look to them? She was terrified when she saw me, like what she’d done was- wrong. Or it’d insult me. Once she stopped freaking out we talked.

Apparently she was trying so hard with me because her mother suggested it? Get a nice man, one you can keep happy through college, or until you find ‘someone better.’ It sounded gross just- every way I looked at it, and, turns out, I’m a moron cause I didn’t figure out she was gay when we slept together.

Please stop looking at me like that, I know I’m a moron for what I did.

_ “You said this happened a few weeks ago?” _

Yes, see, she swore me to secrecy and after everything- well, I owed her that. So I helped her and her girlfriend meet up, secretly. And it was great, until this afternoon. I was waiting outside school for Dallas to finish basketball practice when Ms. Rivas and Zoe came thundering out.

“You are never seeing that girl again, why couldn’t you just suck up to that Torres boy. He seemed easy to guilt.”

“Because I don’t want him mom, that was your idea! Shay makes me happy.” Zoe was somewhere between defiant and crying? It was like she was begging, I guess?

“I don’t want to hear another word about that. Honestly with you leading those boys and this, maybe I should send you to a boarding school to  _ straighten _ you out. Get you back on your priorities, like your career.”

“You mean the career you picked for me, the boys you wanted me to prioritize. Mom, please just- accept me. That I’m-” Zoe was crying this point, whatever defiance she’d run out. By this point I’d gotten closer. And they had made such a scene a few teachers had come out.

“What? A slut? A dyke? No, you just don’t know what you want, next week you’ll have a new disaster of a boy you want to sleep with.”

“No, mom, I’m gay. Please, just… see that.”

“No, you’re not. And until you apologize, don’t bother coming home.”

I want to say I rushed in and picked Zoe up the moment she collapsed, bawling on the sidewalk. I wasn’t actually close enough, or fast enough. I was a little too just- shocked, how that went down. Katie’s sister and a kid named Winston did. Once we got her inside, we decided she should stay here. At least tonight… Please don’t be mad.

***

Audra watched Drew stir his tea absently after his story, well, Zoe’s story. He was merely the messenger.

“Why didn’t Maya take her in?”

“Bad blood, Zoe bullied Maya earlier this year. Maya almost offered but she looked so uneasy at the idea?” Maya was braver than Drew had words for, but he could tell there was something wrong with that idea. It took some coaxing to get the story. “Winston doesn’t have the space. And after my screw-up fell on Mr. Hollingsworth Winston said there wasn’t a good way to put Zoe up there right now. But… we have the room.”

Audra walked over, defiant and commanding, and stood over her son. He was still not looking at her, glancing at her shoes like he was waiting for her judgment.

Audra kissed her idiot son on the top of his head. “Where’s Dallas.”

“Sharing my room tonight, figured Zoe could use the privacy of having the basement to herself.”

“We’ll move her into Adam’s room, for however long she needs. If you and Dallas will help-” There was a pause in her words, Drew was up and giving his mother a hug before she finished.

“We’ll help pack it up, I know.”

There was a tiny pause, a break from the current crisis to salve old wounds that won’t ever heal. As the two hugged.

“So… you’ve told her?”

Zoe Rivas was an absolute mess, that was about the nicest description Drew could have. She put so much effort in looking runway glamorous, at all times. Even during gym and after she just looked healthy and ready for a sports illustrated shoot. Right now her face was blochy and puffy, her hair hadn’t picked a single direction. Her outfit was a rumpled mess.

Drew smiled awkwardly, he wasn’t quite sure what to say beyond that.

Fortunately, like with many things, Drew’s mother fixed it for him. She strode over and gave Zoe a hug, “Enough to know that you can stay. At least until another answer presents itself.”

Zoe collapsed into the hug, a hug Drew doubted Zoe’s ever had in the past. Just- the way Zoe moved around her own mother was so… uneasy. Like she waited to be thrown a treat more than shown concern. All of Ms. Rivas’s actions felt like a show at parenting, a shadow of the reality. Audra Torres was the real deal, even Dallas knew it and he wasn’t really her son (well, he wasn’t but he is now).

And Drew smiled, he’d never seen Zoe quite so alive.

“Let’s set you up in Adam’s room for tonight, the boys will help make it more livable tomorrow. And I’d rather not have Drew and Dallas both sleep in his room if at all possible.” Audra rubbed Zoe’s back and guided her up the stairs.

***

Drew smiled and set a plate of food down for Zoe as she entered the kitchen the next morning. She glared at him wordlessly, tired and still a bit puffy from last night. She’d apparently cried again sometime during the night. If Drew had to guess.

She smiled a little when Drew set a full cup of coffee down next. “Better. You cook?”

“I lived with a rich heiress for six months, except her accounts were frozen. She’d never learned to cook, so I had to.”

Zoe stared at him, sipping her coffee. “Right. Audra walked me through the house rules. Curfews, no wild parties, no girlfriends overnight.”

“Same rules Dallas and I have.”

Zoe smiled at that, “So completely ignorable?”

“Not when she’s here they aren’t.” Drew smiled back. “Dallas and I’ll get Adam’s room cleaned up after he gets back from practice and I come back from your mom’s place.”

Zoe stopped chewing her eggs, “Excuse me?”

“I figured I take Imogen and Clare, get you some clothes?”

Zoe drooped a little, “Right, but…”

“Clare will pick several practical garments you need. Underwear, bras, stuff I don’t quite understand. Imogen will pick a dozen gorgeous things you would never want to lose. But there’s a good chance none of them would go together, and she’d forget to pick you a matching pair of socks.” Drew had sat down to sip his coffee. He couldn’t pick up her clothes alone, he has no idea what he’s doing and it’d be weird. A good president picks the right people for the job, and there were no girls he trusted more than Clare and Imogen.

How he got here he has no idea.

“Why are you being so good to me? This isn’t on you, I-”

“You got kicked out because of something that’s not your fault, and- if I didn’t help some people wouldn’t forgive me.” Drew’s voice cracked a little, just a bit, at the end. There was one person who wouldn’t forgive him. And he was the only vote that mattered. Zoe was a mess, and needed help. “Whatever happened between us doesn’t really matter. No matter how sorry I am for how that went.”

Zoe just pushed her food around, quietly.

Drew finished his coffee, came over, and gave Zoe a hug. She returned it instantly, pressing into him like she might fall off the world otherwise. “Get used to being here, I’m going to meet up with Im and my Veep. We’ll be back with some clothes you can wear. Okay?”

Zoe didn’t let him go at first. Drew didn’t push the issue, letting her hang on as long as she needed. “Okay. Don’t let my mother stop you.”

“Ah, that’s the other reason I’m taking Clare and Imogen. She’d probably be able to scare me off, Imogen’s insane and Clare beat cancer. Your mother doesn’t stand a chance.”

“...Good.” She finally let go, and Drew headed for the door.

**Author's Note:**

> So I was thinking of who all could just decide 'Zoe is now living here, deal with it' and my usual names came to mind. Miles, Maya, Frankie, Lola. Then I went... Drew is a big dope with a good heart, he'd feel bad and feel right to help, even if he shouldn't. And, bonus, the best mom in Degrassi history would now be Zoe's mom.
> 
> So I had to. That's that. It's canon now.
> 
> Drew's POV was mostly an easy of writing, there's a lot more scene space for Drew helping a distraught Zoe than Zoe fighting for herself. Woke showed how broken down and beaten Zoe would be, and this Zoe is even younger and less okay. Him telling the story to his mom felt like the right literary device for the scene? I like first person so that might just be a me choice.
> 
> Shay being Zoe's paramour was mostly a throw away, I needed someone and lesbian!Shay is an AU I think of time to time with a smile. So I went with that, it's really not a part of the story here, just I needed a name.


End file.
